Saints celebrated on the 27th of June
O glorious Virgin, Mother of God, blessed among all nations, worthy of praise and the greatest of praise, intercede for me with thy beloved Son. O honoured Lady, Mother of the King of Angels and Archangels, assist and deliver me from every difficulty and danger.
O Blossom of the Patriarchs, the Virgins and the Angels, Hope of Glory, Beauty of Virgins, Admiration of the Angels and Archangels, remember me, and forsake me not, I beseech thee, at the terrible hour of my death. O Star of the Sea, Gate of Heaven, Temple of God, Palace of Jesus Christ, Harbour of Safety, Power of all Nations, Pearl of all Sweetness, Hope of the Faithful; O Queen who shelters the guilty, who surpasses in radiance the Virgins and the Angels, thy presence gives joy to all the hosts of Heaven.
Therefore, O Mother of Mercy, I place in the protection of thy holy hands my going out, my coming in, my sleeping, my waking, the sight of my eyes, the touch of my hands, the speech from my lips, the hearing of my ears, so that in everything I may be pleasing to thine own beloved Son. Amen.
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR
1. THE MIRACULOUS PICTURE
“The miraculous picture of Madonna and Child rests on the main altar of the church of the Redemptorist Fathers in Rome. It was first in the possession of a wealthy merchant from Crete, then brought to Rome and eventually placed in St Matthew’s Church. For three hundred years crowds of pilgrims have journeyed far to see this picture, the source of many cures. In 1812, St Matthew’s Church was razed, and for fifty-four years the picture’s location was not known.
When it turned up again, Pope IX gave it to the Redemptorist Fathers for their church on the spot where Mary first had been revered in this special manner as Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
The miraculous picture is painted like an icon. Two Angels designated as St Michael and St Gabriel are seen beside the Virgin’s head, carrying in their veiled hands the instruments of Christ’s Passion, the Cross, the spear and the sponge. The picture was probably painted by a Greek artist of the thirteenth century.
A Redemptorist Priest explains the hidden meanings of the icon in detail
2. HOW OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR HELPS US
Mary is invoked as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (and, particularly in North America, as Our Lady of Perpetual Help) because she affords succour and help to Christians even in all temporal needs. Although she is now enthroned in heaven, she still takes an interest in our misery and relieves our wants.
Mary succours us especially in our spiritual needs. She is a most merciful Mother who rejects no sinner. She lovingly interests herself in our behalf and tries to reconcile us to her Son when we have sinned. She assists us in temptation. She confirms us in good and obtains for us the grace of making progress in the path of virtue, for she desires nothing more ardently than that we all become partakers of the fruits of redemption, won for us by her Son. In our efforts to reach holiness, she supports us and obtains for us the grace of perseverance. We can ask nothing of her that will give her greater pleasure or that she will grant more willingly than the grace to do good.
Above all, Mary will assist us in the hour of death, which is a crucial moment in our life because it is then that we prepare for the judgment. As the exalted Queen of Heaven she takes the souls of her faithful servants under her protecting mantle, accompanies them to the judgment seat of her Son, and there she becomes their intercessor.
Mary is still the Mother of God in heaven as she was on earth; Jesus, who is omnipotence itself, remains her Son for all eternity. Her love for us is now even more intense and more compassionate, because she knows our misery better in heaven. She obtains gentle rest for all who are laden with trouble and pain; she gives comfort to the afflicted and healing to the sick.
Mary is our Mother of Perpetual Succour, and therefore we should have an unbounded confidence in her. She can succour and help us, for her prayer is all-powerful with God, and she will help us, for she is our Mother and she loves us as her children.”
PRAYER TO ST ALPHONSUS:
O Saint Alphonsus, most faithful servant of Mary, you who know how much this good Mother deserves to be loved, honoured and served, make me, I pray you, understand her sublime privileges in order to admire, praise and love her, and her eminent virtues in order to imitate them.
O my holy protector, I wish to serve Mary as you have served her, to love her as much as you have loved her, and to become as dear to her heart as yourself.
But the accomplishment of this desire is, I confess, far above my own power; my heart is too much attached to earthly things to rise so high; so I address myself to you, my powerful advocate, and I beg of you to obtain for me at least the grace to love Mary, to honour and serve her with all my strength; and above all the grace always to invoke her under the consoling title of Mother of Perpetual Succour. Amen.
Glory be to the Father… (three times)
V. Pray for us, Saint Alphonsus Mary.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
O God, who by Saint Alphonsus, your confessor and bishop, inflamed with zeal for souls, made your Church fruitful in a new religious family, we ask you that, taught by his example, we may be enabled to come to your kingdom.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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